Refrigerator car



F. M. PATTON REFRIGERATOR CAR Feb. 14, 1928.

Filed Dec. 1 1925 Patented Feb. 14, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,659,541 PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS M. PATTON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; ETHEL M. PATTON ADMINISTRATRIX OF SAID FRANCIS MIRA PATTON, DECEASED.

REFRIGERATOR CAR.

Application filed'Deeember 16, 1925. Serial No. 75,740.

The present invention relates to refrigerator cars and consists in the provision of means for causing a positive circulation of cold air in an improved and advantageous manner.

Under the present practice, warm air from the body of the car is induced into the top of the ice bunkers by the falling of the chilled air in the bunker and which finally moves out into the storage space of the car from the bottom of the bunkers, thus establishing a natural circulation. This circulation is extremely slow for it is estimated, that under general conditions, the cold air rises about 10% the height of the car in the first twenty-four hours, about 25% in fortyeight hours and about 50% in 7 2 hours, after which time it rises very slowly. It will thus be seen that cars loaded with highly perishable substances may very often reach their destination before the natural circulation of air has been completed or before any material cooling or refrigerating of the contents has been effected, which has lead to so-called interior icing, where ice is thrown on or packed with the contents of the car, resulting in the deterioration of the ear, and flooding the bottom of the car destroying a considerable part of the cargo. It is also to known that some forms of forced circulation have been proposed, but these are not advantageous for numerous reasons, such as, cost of installation, space occupied in the car and system of circulation.

The object of the invention is the reversal of the air current in the ice bunker so as to deposit the heavy cold air on top of the load. The natural and immediate dropping or convection of this air in filtering through the load gives an immediate and even reduction in temperature in the whole load, and will make so-called interior icing unnecessary.

It is the further object of the present invention to produce a forced circulation of air through the ice bunkers in each end of the conventional refrigerator car, in a simple, practical and economical manner without reducing the storage space or the space in the ice bunkers.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the sundry details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings and will be referred to as the specificainvention in whate er form it may embody within the'scope thereof.

In the drawings, which show the preferred embodiment of the invention as at present devised:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of one end of a refrigerator car of the conventional type, equipped with the invention; and

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 10 designates the body of a refrigerator car of conventional type provided at both ends thereof with an ice bunker 11. The bunker 11 may be of any suitable construction as the invention may be applied to all types of refrigerator cars without requiring any modification in their construction or in the construction and arrangement of the bunker 11.

The ice bunkers 11 are ordinarily provided by a partitioning the end portions of the car with a transverse wall 12 having suitable 90 openings 13 and 14 at their tops and bottoms respectively in order to permit the ingress and egress of air into and from the ice chamber 11. The ice is normally supported by the bottom 15 of the car or on a grating or other suitable support 16.

It is the purpose of this invention to place a battery of fans at or near the bottom of the ice bunkers, the ice being supported above on a grating or other suitable support per- 1 0 mitting the passage of air therethrough. The fans are sufiiciently large and numerous enough to draw the warm air from the bottom of the car through the opening 14, and to force it upwardly through the ice-load 105 resting on the grating 16, through the opening 13 into the to of the car and to draw the same back agaln through the contents of the car. The cold air forced through the opening 13 has a natural tendency to descend, 110

Ice

but is accelerated by the suction and forc-, ing action'of the fans 17, chilling the air and the contents of the car as it descends. The vigorous circulation produced by the fans will cause a constant, even and rapid chilling or refrigeration of the contents of the car.

It will also be observed that with this circulation, the contents in the upper portion of the car, which are ordinarily the warmest, will be chilled first by the air coming from the ice bunkers.

In carrying the invention into practice and for the purpose of the present illustration the fans 17 are shown as horizontally disposed immediately beneath the grating 16 and above the opening 14: in'the bottom of the partition 12. These fans are each mounted on a shaft 18 journaled in any suitable manner, such as the bearings 19, whereby the fans may be rotated and held in position.

Rotation of the fans may be effected in any desired manner such as by motors placed beneath the car, or by operatively connecting the same with the running gear of the car, and for the purpose of the present illustration the latter being shown and preferred. The shafts 18 are each illustrated as connected with the running gear through gearing 21 mounted on a transverse shaft 22 ournaled in bearings 23, the shaft 22 having a pulley 2 fast thereon. The pulley 24 is connected to a belt or other suitable driving medium passing over a pulley 25 fast on an axle of the running gear of the car. The fans 17 are preferably positioned in openings 26 provided in the usual drain pan 27 disposed under the grating 16, the marginal portions of the openings-26 being upturned to prevent the drainage from passing through the o enings; a drain pipe 28 be ing provided or this purpose.

While the fans are operating, they will intercept a certain amount of the drippings from the ice bunker and will spray the same,

be operated to establish the forced circula-.

tion in reverse direction.

The ice bunkers may be filled as usual through the ordinary trap door 29 provided I in the upper portion of the car, immediately over the bunkers 11.

- It is manifest that in order to accomplish the desired circulation by one set of fans,

Fig. 2. The gearing 21 is such as will automatically shift to effect this result. The shafts 18 each carry a bevel gear a which engages with the shiftable gearing, there being a set of shiftable gearing for each fan. This gearing consists of a slidable sleeve 6 on the shaft 22 and having fast thereon a pair of opposed bevel gears c and cl respectively, spaced apart and adapted to be alternately brought into engagement with the gear a, on opposite sides of its axis. The

alternate shifting of the gears c and d is ef-' fected by. a pin 6 projecting from the shaft 22 into the oblique slot f in the sleeve 1).

There may be one or more of said pins 6 and slots f in each of the sleeves b.

It will thus be obvious that when the car is moving in one direction the pin e will be moved into one end of the slot f and thereby shift the sleeve 6 to bring one of the gears 0 or d into engagement with the gear a, and then upon a reverse movement of the car the shaft 22 will be rotated in the opposite direction and cause the pin 6 to act on the oblique side walls of the slots 7 to move to the other end of the slots, thereby shifting the sleeve to bring the other gears c or d, as the case may be, into engagement with the gear (1. Suitable stops 9 are provided on the shaft for limiting the movement of the sleeve 6. Only, one set of the shiftable gearing has been described, as the other is identical therewith.

It is also to be understood that the shifting of the gearing 21 may be'eifected by simple manual means in any approved manner as will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. It'is also to be understood that the gearing Ai G, and D may be 1 a frictional gearing instea of teeth gears as shown, and it is also well within the purview of the invention to use double acting fans which will be successively bought into effective operation upon the reverse movements of the car thereby eliminating a shifting gearing 21.

What I claim is 1. The combination with a refrigerator car having an ice bunker therein, said bunker'having air communication with the interior of the car at its upper and lower ends, a fan for inducing currents of air from the bottom of the interior of the car upwardly through the bunker where it is dlscharged through the opening in the upper end thereof into the interior of the car, an operating shaft for the fan extending through the car floor and means for actuating said shaft.

2. The combination with a refrigerator car having an ice bunker therein communicating with the interior of the car at the top and bottom portions thereof whereby air circulation may be established, an ice support in the bunker, air propelling means d1sposed in said bunker below the supported ice thereon for accelerating said air circulation, and means for actuating said propolling means.

3. The combination with a refrigerator car having an ice bunker therein communicating with the interior of the car at the top and bottom portions thereof whereby air circulation may be established, an ice support in the bunker, a fan disposed in said bunker below the ice supported therein for accelerating said air circulation, a shaft extending from the fan through the floor of the car, an operative connection between said fan and the running gear of the car whereby the same may be rotated.

4. The combination with a refrigerator car having an ice bunker therein, means at the top and bottom of the bunker permitting air circulation between it and the interior of the car, means in the bunker for supporting ice, a drip pan arranged under said ice supporting means and having an opening therein, a fan disposed in the openlng of said pan and mounted for rotation, and means for rotating the fan.

5. A device as set forth in claim 3 further characterized by said connection between the fan and the runnin gear of the car bein automatically shiftaile by the direction 0. movement of the car to maintain the rotation of said fans in one direction irrespective of the movement of the car.

6. In a refrigerator car, the combination with a car having an approximately hermetically closed storage space; of a chamber within said car having its ends in communication with said storage space, said chamber bein constructed to provide free circulation of air therethrough; means for maintaining a temperature reducing medium within said air chamber in a position to interrupt the passage of air currents through the chamber, so that said currents will contact directly therewith; and means located between the storage space and the air current entrance to said chamber and adjacent to said entrance for causing air currents to pass through the chamber in a direction opposite to the course normally followed by ordinary convection currents, whereby said current of air is caused to circulate from the bottom of the storage space, through said chamber and discharged 1nto the upper portion of the storage space.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set In hand.

y FRANCIS M. PATTON. 

